Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Trumpeter Swans

Over the past 10 years Michelle and I have taken numerous trips out to Yellowstone. Our last trip to Yellowstone was last week. We had a great time. While we were there we did spot some trumpeter swans. Since I have had numerous opportunities to photograph swans over the years we did not take any swan pictures on this trip but I do remember that the first time that we ever saw trumpeters was in Yellowstone. It was very exciting at the time.

In the 1700, 1800 and early 1900 swans were hunted almost to extinction within the lower 48 states of the United States. By 1930 there were only 69 trumpeters left in the lower US. In the 1960s 40 swans were obtained from Montana to repopulate the trumpeter population in Minnesota. In the 1980s swan eggs were collected from the nests of wild trumpeters in Alaska, Montana and from breeders and brought to Minnesota to continue to repopulate the species across the state. These efforts have paid off. The trumpeter population in Minnesota now numbers in the thousands. The swans nest in the area, see them with their cygnets above, and many even stay in the state during the winter.